putting extra pitching time in

[corlay]

There is a fine line between pushing a pitcher to be the best she can be and pushing her over the edge. I have seen it go both ways and the "line" is different for everyone.

^^^ THIS!

If you find yourself as a parent, nagging and pushing your kid to practice, on a weekly basis;
then that is a strong signal that it is time to back-off.

"It's a marathon, not a sprint" mentality is so true, especially 14U and younger.
You don't want to drive a kid away from the sport.

Give them space. Still lots of time for that internal fire to ignite on it's own;
and the relationship and experience will richer.

 

[Bob516]

^^^ THIS!

If you find yourself as a parent, nagging and pushing your kid to practice, on a weekly basis;
then that is a strong signal that it is time to back-off.

Give them space. Still lots of time for that internal fire to ignite on it's own;
and the relationship and experience will richer.

So corlay and [MENTION=5663]JAD[/MENTION], so when does encouragement become nagging and pushing?

 

[Bob516]

There is a fine line between pushing a pitcher to be the best she can be and pushing her over the edge. I have seen it go both ways and the "line" is different for everyone.

So what is the "danger" of not pushing a pitcher all the way up to that line, other than she won't be a top college ball recruit?

 

[JAD]

So corlay and [MENTION=5663]JAD[/MENTION], so when does encouragement become nagging and pushing?

It is different for everyone...I cannot tell you how many times I told my DD "hey, we need to go pitch" and she would sigh or complain, but once we got out there and started doing it she was OK with it. I used a combination of motivation techniques to get the desired result: your team needs you, I will take you for ice cream when we are done if you focus, you are running home from here if you do not start giving me 110%, I will fill up your car, your boyfriend can go to dinner with us tomorrow night, I am taking your phone for a week if you do not straighten up and concentrate. I was "good cop" and "bad cop" and DD never knew which one she was going to get!

 

[JAD]

So what is the "danger" of not pushing a pitcher all the way up to that line, other than she won't be a top college ball recruit?

Some players can always give 110% and never be a top college recruit...you goal should be to push her to be the best that she can be!

 

[Bob516]

Some players can always give 110% and never be a top college recruit...you goal should be to push her to be the best that she can be!

I believe I mentioned this before, she wants to the be the best on her school and TB teams. She asks to go out to the field to practice when the weather cooperates (3 or 4 times a week before the cold set in), but she does little at home. The irony is the parents of the other pitchers on her TB team tell me their DDs will do basic drills at home, spinning the ball, throwing socks, but they won't ask to go out to the field to practice.

I am trying to figure out how much I should encourage her to practice basic skills indoors, especially with the colder weather.

 

[JAD]

I believe I mentioned this before, she wants to the be the best on her school and TB teams. She asks to go out to the field to practice when the weather cooperates (3 or 4 times a week before the cold set in), but she does little at home. The irony is the parents of the other pitchers on her TB team tell me their DDs will do basic drills at home, spinning the ball, throwing socks, but they won't ask to go out to the field to practice.

I am trying to figure out how much I should encourage her to practice basic skills indoors, especially with the colder weather.

The question then becomes is she being pushed to be the best she can be by the competition she is facing on her HS and TB teams? Someone will always be the skinniest kid at fat camp! I have seen some HS teams with a #1 pitcher that could barely throw a strike, and it was a "meatball" when she did. I have seen some really bad TB and REC teams that never pushed themselves or the level of competition they faced.

 

[BT3100]

We keep DD pitching 4 days per week. At 14 she just hit 60 fairly consistently. She had a back injury at the end of the summer into fall that set her back. In winter we do the following. Lessons 2 times per week Tuesday and Friday (60 minutes each). Then she pitches at practice on Saturday and Sunday about 75 minutes per session. Monday and Wednesdays off. Her pitching coach has her throw nothing but FB and Curve 2 days per week along with speed drills. Then on the other two days she works on movement pitches with some FB mixed in. Change ups are worked on 2 days.
Last year we gave her a full 4 weeks off. She lost some speed and it took her a few week to get it back. She didn't think it helped her at all. That said we will do it again this year, wedged in between camps. The biggest reason for her speed increase this year has been her working out with a personal trainer and running, running and running.

 

[corlay]

So what is the "danger" of not pushing a pitcher all the way up to that line, other than she won't be a top college ball recruit?

you are getting at the crux of it:
She has to want it.

at 8yr to 12yr my DD was insatiable.
on a mission to learn how to pitch.

at 13-14 her enthusiasm lessened a bit.
I really pushed hard, and after a while, could sense that her love of the sport was starting to wane a bit.
So I backed-off.
We still practiced, and she still played, but practice sessions dropped to about 1x or 2x per week.
Around the same time as this, she started playing volleyball, and really liked it - a lot.
Was tough to manage it all over the winter: travel vball season, sball team practices, individual pitch practice, etc.

Then, this past season, she joined a new travel team, with an exceptional coach,
and a really skilled roster of girls. through this experience, and probably from being another year mature,
the fire started to light in her belly again.

This Fall, she's been a beast: working 2x week with a personal trainer, pitching/hitting 3x week.
All initiated on her own. The difference? She WANTS to work. No more push-back on that.
And it's a WHOLE lot more enjoyable.
(she did lessen her travel vball commitment this winter, a little. so that helps...)

She's now a Freshman in HS, so the increased will to practice and train,
is timing-up very well. If I pushed too hard the 2 prior years, she may not be playing at all.

Like JD says: find the balance.
Your gut will tell you if you've pushed too hard.

 

[Bob516]

you are getting at the crux of it:
She has to want it.

DD clearly wants it, but seems to need some encouragement when it comes to things she could be doing in the living room. Neither one of my DDs motivates herself to do those types of indoor drills. I guess I have to be a bit more active in getting them to do it.

Here is an example, from just today. I told my catcher DD about Ken Krause's the Roman Empire after I read his thread. I explained the drill, and she got the concept and the value in it. She said nothing about it. 30 minutes later she asked me to take her to practice in a parking lot to work on infield drills, the fields around here still have some snow on them. At that point it was too late for me to go out with her.